Action Alert

From the Native Forest Network

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION--10 November 1997--For the Rainforests and Indigenous
Peoples of Nicaragua's North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN).

The central government of Nicaragua has granted logging concessions to SOLCARSA, a
subsidiary of the Korean multinational corporation Kum Kyung. SOLCARSA has begun the
process to cut into Central America's largest rainforest. Roads are being built and SOLCARSA
already forcibly evicted one indigenous community from their communal land. SOLCARSA will
cut their way through many other communities in their attempt to cut the rainforest. In the
process they will destroy traditional cultures and steal the rainforest denying the indigenous
peoples a future in their homeland. Please join us to help prevent this disaster.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Take part in the International Day of Action for the Nicaraguan Rainforest. Organize a protest,
rally or vigil at your local Nicaraguan Consulate or Embassy.

Fax, send or hand deliver letters of protest to President Aleman directly or via Nicaraguan
Embassies and Consulates on November 10, 1997, during the International Day of Action.

In March of 1997, a diverse group of US activists from the environmental , indigenous rights and
Nicaraguan solidarity movements joined with Nicaraguan environmentalists and indigenous
peoples to document the destruction of the traditional lands of the Carribean coast. The group
traveled up the Rio Coco to the isolated Bosawas Reserve, visited displaced Miskito and Sumu
communities near the gold mines of Bonanza and Rosita, uncovered new logging roads on sacred
indigenous land in Wakamby and met with numerous governmental and non-governmental
organizations.

PREPARATION FOR DESTRUCTION

Logging in Nicaragua's North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) is widespread already, but
the disruption of the indigenous communities and the environmental destruction that will follow
the newest logging concessions in the North Atlantic Coast will be severe. The concession,
approximately 150,000 acres was granted by Nicaragua's central government to SOLCARSA, also
known as Sol de Caribe, one of many companies, including 5 US timber companies, moving into
the region. The concession area includes Wakamby, a large tract of ancient tropical hardwood
forest located between the village of Rosita and the BOSAWAS Reserve. Both are part of the
largest tract of virgin rainforest north of the Amazon. SOLCARSA is currently cutting a road into
these valuable hardwoods. As of April, 1997, this new project had cut only 4.5 kilometers, but
given the speed of the operation, the 40 kilometers to Puerto Cabezas, the regional capital and
largest port, should not take long. Plans are also under way to lengthen the city's dock to
accommodate the increased trafficking of lumber and other products.

Removing Resistance

The community of Finicia, in Wakamby, is a mix of Sumu and Miskito indigenous people located
just outside of the mining town of Rosita. When SOLCARSA entered this area last year, each
household was offered 1,500-2,000 Cordoba (US$120-$160) and promised additional money to
move, as well as a school and scholarships, electricity, drinking water and jobs in exchange for
relocating. And since the leading member of the Regional Council, Efrain Josejos, had already
signed an agreement with SOLCARSA, community leaders felt they had little grounds for
standing up to the company. Then, when community members continued to show concern and
displeasure with the deal, they were visited by 30 authorities including members of the local and
regional government and the military. It became dangerous for them to continue speaking out, and
the military threatened to blockade the road to their community if they did not agree. Pressured
into moving, they relocated their village, but received only the $120-$160 per family, which was
used to cover their moving expenses. Recently, SOLCARSA, has again asked the community to
move so that they can expand their logging decks and lumber yards. Now the community fears
that they will be forced to make room for SOLCARSA again and lose their fruit trees, upon which
they depend for food. When the village leader went numerous times to complain to officials about
broken promises by the corporation, the local courts decided in favor of the company. The reason
given was that the agreement made with the community was with the company's previous
administration and the new administration had no obligation to uphold it.

Coercing Government Officials

The Nicaraguan North and South Atlantic Autonomous Zones make up 50% of the land mass of
the nation but contain a diverse population (Miskito, Sumu, Creole, Garifuna, Mestizo and Rama)
of barely 500,000. This region is becoming known internationally for its abundance of natural
resources (with almost no barriers to rampant exploitation). These resources include endangered
mahoghany, which companies can sell for US$15,000 or more , while a desperate labor force will
work all day for US$8. Legally granted political autonomy by the Nicaraguan National Assembly
in 1987, President Aleman has been unwilling to take any steps to protect the rights of the
indigenous communities and appears to be actively opening the carribean coast to exploitation.
This is evident through his unwillingness to revoke the SOLCARSA's logging concession, which
has been found illegal by the Nicaraguan Supreme Court, as well as his recent order to the military
to take down the indigenous flag flying over Puerto Cabezas. This flag was a very important
symbol of indigenous autonomy.

1987 Statute of Autonomy Law

Under the Autonomy Law, the majority of land is property of the indigenous communities and it
has been written in the Nicaraguan constitution that IT CANNOT BE SOLD. Still, large sales are
common. It also states that the natural resources (i.e.. minerals below the ground, or trees above)
belong to the state, but the natural state of the country should be maintained. -How can the
natural state be maintained if they destroy the rainforest and all that live within?

"The pressures on Nicaragua's northern rainforest I understand to be...intense, from
logging and mining interests. Ancient cultures and trees are severely threatened.
Indigenous populations and their ecosystems are endangered, and we know that when these
people and their lands are destroyed, we are but one step behind in our own extinction.
For all the solidarity struggles of the past with Nicaragua and other Central American
countries, it just may be that in striving to network with others around the preservation of
nature that we may give birth to a new world view.

I can't stress enough how important it is for people in the US to establish direct links
with people elsewhere who understand the relationship of the health of ecosystems to the
dignity and sustainability of human culture..."

-S. Brian Willson, Quoted in a 1996 letter about his trip to Nicaragua.

BOSAWAS

The BOSAWAS Reserve is acclaimed as a triumph for protecting the rainforest in Northern
Nicaragua. However, we have several concerns about the reserve. The indigenous people of the
region were not permitted to participate in the process and the boundaries of the reserve are not
clearly demarcated. The reserve is 8,000 square kilometers in size, about 15% of the coastal
region. The Solcarsa logging concession is 61,000 hectares (150,000 acres). When the NFN
delegation was there, 80 trees per day were being logged from the area, for the roadbuilding
activities alone. Indigenous people living in the region say that illegal logging is going on within
the reserve and believe that much of it is being done with unofficial consent of the Ministry of the
Environment and Natural Resources (Marena). In addition the Nature Conservancy and USAID,
who pushed throught the project, will only fund it for an additional year, making it seem that the
BOSAWAS reserve is nothing more than a ploy to stop people from worrying about logging in
the surrounding region.